Lawn mowers with bagging attachments are often used to mulch leaves and other debris on a lawn in order to avoid raking of the leaves and to provide a good mulch to use in gardens, around shrubs and elsewhere. Ordinary lawn mowers are only moderately effective in providing such mulching in that leaves are only partially cut up and fine comminution of the leaves is generally not possible.
A number of techniques and devices have been developed which are designed to improve the mulching action of a lawn mower, and patents of possible interest in this field include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,904 (Paker); 4,326,370 (Thorud); 4,435,949 (Heismann); 4,665,683 (Paolucci); and 4,726,178 (Mallaney et al).
Briefly considering these patents, the Paker patent discloses a leaf mulcher attachment for lawn mowers which is in the form of a plate adapted for positioning in front of the grass ejection chute of the mower. The plate includes a plurality of tines and openings spaced therealong, and is connected by screws to the housing of the mower. The Thorud patent discloses a rotary lawn mower wherein discharge ports are blocked to provide operation of the mower as a mulcher, with the grass clippings being discharged from a tunnel in a substantially downward direction. The Mallaney et al patent discloses a discharge cover assembly which, in one mode, provides a cover plate which covers the discharge opening of the mower to produce a mulching action. The Heismann patent discloses a mulching adaptor for a rotary lawn mower which includes a cover plate used to block the discharge opening of the discharge chute. The Paolucci patent discloses an adaptor for collecting and distributing leaves which surrounds the entire deck of the lawn mower.
In general, prior art mulching attachments and devices basically involve blocking of a discharge chute or opening to provide re-cutting of the leaves into small pieces and because the discharge opening is blocked, do not permit use of a bagger with the mower to collect the mulched leaves.